Adrian’s eyes locked on the Fla Wolf, its fiery fur flickering like embers. The beast had already spotted him. But it was too late for it.
Adrian’s finger tapped the trigger of the Mana Gun, opting for a low-intensity shot.
His [Interdiate Shooting Technique (1)] kicked in, and he easily anticipated the wolf’s dodge.
A pulse of blue mana gathered at the barrel’s tip, then erupted in a sharp sound.
~ZAP!~
The shot streaked through the air like a cot. The wolf darted right, but the blast still managed to strike its torso squarely.
The wolf yelped, stumbling as the mana seared its hide, smoke curling from the wound. Notifications flashed in Adrian’s vision:
[Congratulations! You have killed a magical beast!]
[Would you like to harvest its Magic Crystal?]
Adrian blinked, stunned. "Wow. That was easy... easier than I expected."
He grinned and adrenaline rushed through him. "Of course." He approached the wolf’s smoldering corpse and corpse it in his [Inventory] too.
’No ti to waste,’ he thought, wiping sweat from his brow. ’This gun is the real deal, but I’ll have to test it on sothing tougher.’
Determined to push the gun’s limits, Adrian headed deeper into the Magic Forest.
’Bigger opponents an bigger rewards,’ he thought, his confidence surging. He pulled out his custom Mana Detector that he had crafted with a 2-Star crystal for enhanced sensitivity.
’How’d I forget this?’ he wondered, shaking his head. Activating it, the Tech Core chid:
[Would you like to activate Mapping?]
Adrian perked up. [Mapping], a skill he had unlocked at Level 9, was a ga-changer.
[Mapping: Generates a detailed map of traversed areas, displayed on the user’s status screen. Anything within sense can has its distance estimated on the map. Updates dynamically with exploration.]
’That’s what I need,’ Adrian thought with a nod. "Yes. Map out the Magic Forest."
[Mapping initiated...]
In seconds, the Tech Core completed the task. A holographic map materialized on his status screen, showing the forest’s outskirts in vivid detail — paths he’d walked, trees, and clearings.
Deeper regions appeared gray, unmapped, but dotted with glowing signatures of varying sizes. The largest clustered deeper in with greater intensity.
’That’s where the real beasts are,’ he thought.
"Nice." The system’s compass pointed toward the nearest signature, and Adrian moved, muttering, "Maybe I’ll find sothing great."
***
After walking deeper into the forest for an hour, Adrian finally spotted a beast in the distance.
Adrian spotted a 2-Star beast from a distance—a Frost Lynx, its icy fur shimring in a shaft of filtered light. The Tech Core’s analysis flashed:
[Analyzing...]
[Beast identified: Frost Lynx]
[Rank: 2-Star Magical Beast]
[Elent: Ice]
Adrian crouched behind a tree, gripping the gun. ’2-Star beasts are faster and tougher,’ he thought. ’I can’t take any chances.’
He wasn’t within shooting range of the beast yet, so he took a couple of steps forward and unexpectedly, the lynx’s head snapped up, sensing him.
But instead of charging, it whipped its tail, firing a volley of ice shards. They scread through the air, glinting like daggers.
Adrian’s heart raced on sensing the shards; he had no shield nor magic to block them and he could imagine the consequences if he was hit with any of them.
He imdiately followed his instincts and dove low, crouching behind a fallen log, holding his breath as shards thudded into the wood and ground.
’One hit, and I might just be done,’ he thought, but fortunately for him, the barrage soon stopped and the lynx paused to scan.
’Now!’ Adrian popped up, firing a low-intensity shot.
~ZAP!~
The blue pulse grazed the lynx’s flank, disorienting it. The beast snarled, clawing at the singed spot.
Adrian took his chances, pressed the trigger hard to unleash a full-intensity blast.
~BOOM!~
A thicker, brighter mana bolt erupted, slamming into the lynx’s head. The impact blasted a fist-sized hole through its skull, blood and ice crystals spraying. The beast collapsed, lifeless.
[Congratulations! You have killed a magical beast!]
[Would you like to harvest its Magic Crystal?]
Notifications appeared as usual, but Adrian didn’t need them to confirm the kill — the gory hole was proof enough.
"Wow," he breathed, lowering the gun, shock mingling with awe.
’That power...’ He retrieved the corpse and its 2-Star Magic Crystal into his [Inventory] before sinking into the ground.
"That was close," he said, breathing heavily. The gun’s 1-Star crystal was spent already and on removal, it was now a dull, manaless husk.
He swapped it for the 2-Star crystal, its cool energy clicking into place and recharging the gun.
Standing, Adrian dusted himself off. "Tested enough," he muttered.
"This thing’s a beast, but I need better defenses."
The lynx’s shards had been a wake-up call to him, firepower weren’t enough if he couldn’t block attacks. He checked his map, tracing a path back to the outpost. ’Ti to head out.’
For an hour; Adrian trekked through the forest, the map guiding him past familiar landmarks. The gun, now powered by a 2-Star crystal, felt heavier in his [Inventory].
But an uneasy feeling gnawed at him, growing stronger with each step and soon, his instincts scread right when his map flickered, a new mana signature appeared — bright, intense, and far too close.
’That can’t be a beast,’ Adrian thought in fear before gripping the gun as he summoned it from his [Inventory].
"Ignis Murus!"
By the ti Adrian heard those words, he thought it was already too late and that the spell was already, but what he saw next left him stunned.
A wall of flas roared up at his front.
’What?!’
"I’ll like to see you run now," the voice stupidly announced from behind him.
Adrian didn’t hesitate at all, turning around to fire a low-intensity shot, aid at the man’s chest.
~ZAP~
The mage dodged in ti, but the blast grazed his shoulder, singeing his cloak.
"Tch," the assassin spat before calling out: "Flamma—"
Adrian pressed the trigger hard, unleashing a dium-intensity shot this ti.
~BOOM!~
The pulse rocketed toward the mage’s legs and the bolt struck his knees, shattering it with a sickening crunch. The assassin scread and fell, and his flas fizzling out.
Adrian advanced closer to him with the gun pointed at his head and said in a cold voice:
"You better get to explaining now if you want a chance to live."
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